We aren’t a culture that rests well. Always on the go we are. Frantic and rushed. Calendars filled to the brim, running from activity to activity. No wonder we are a stressed out society. No wonder we can’t sit still…we don’t know how.
My Pastor was breaking down Isaiah 58:13 in a recent sermon. He talked about how the Sabbath, in the Old Testament, symbolized the people “stopping their doing” and “resting in being.” Not long after that sermon, I read a devotional in She Reads Truth that said, “Jesus preached a religion that was not about doing, but about being.”
Again, God gets my attention.
Genesis 2:2 KJV
“And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”
I first wrote this scripture down in my Holy Yoga teaching notes. But when I went to type it, I thought I had written it down incorrectly. It just seemed too redundant…I must have gotten it wrong, I thought. But, no actually. It IS redundant. And for a reason.
We need to read and hear those words over and over. At least I do. “God ENDED his work which he had made.” “And he RESTED on the seventh day from his work which he had made.” (emphasis mine)
God was working…breathing this earth and everything in it into existence. Six days He was forming and shaping and creating. And then He stopped.
The commentary on this scripture says that, “God didn’t rest because He was tired. He rested to provide an example for us.” This was a “lightbulb” moment for me. Of course God doesn’t get tired the way that you and I do, dear reader. God is God. But He knew we would need rest. And He knew we would need to know how.
Psalm 62:5 NIV
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God. My hope comes from him.”
“To find” implies an actively seeking out…something you look for. A “find” is also something precious…
My friends, there are endless opportunities for our “doing.” Enough doing. We don’t need more activity. We need more resting. Whatever that means to you…rest can look different for each one of us. Maybe it means making some space in your schedule to take care of yourself. Maybe it means saying, “No” to a social gathering and taking a nap instead. Maybe it means turning off the technology and quieting the ever present stream of noise.
When we stop our doing, my hope is that we (me included) can find rest in being. Just being. Resting in the constant presence of our Creator and King. Letting our souls settle in His provision. Finding freedom in who He has made us to be in Him.
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God.”